


Boy On Fire

by my_infinite_variety



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Castiel Loves Dean Winchester, Comfort, Cuddling Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester Loves Castiel, Dean Winchester in a Wheelchair, Disabled Dean Winchester, Discovery, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It of Sorts, Implied/Referenced Torture, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Canon, Post-Episode: s15e20 Carry On, Retired Hunter Dean Winchester, Soft Castiel/Dean Winchester, TheirLoveWasReal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29442594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_infinite_variety/pseuds/my_infinite_variety
Summary: Dean has nightmares most nights, in the darkness where no one can see.Castiel sits just outside, face shadowed by the hall lights, and aches to comfort him.This is them discovering each other again.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Kudos: 35
Collections: Their Love Was Real: a Destiel & Saileen Fanworks Challenge





	Boy On Fire

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this was a quick one for prompt day 1: discovery, so if there's any mistakes please tell me. thank you!

Most nights, Dean wakes up in a cold sweat, scrabbling at his back and sobbing hoarsely into his pillow. Most nights, the shadows are too dark and the room he sleeps in is too cold and the space between his shoulder blades aches with a phantom pain. Most nights, he’s alone.

Most nights, Castiel stands guard just outside, waiting for the moment Dean wakes with a gasp. Most nights, Castiel listens to his frustrated voice echo down the hall and presses his forehead to Dean’s door and he cries. Most nights, he wishes Dean would let him in.

Tonight, Castiel sits against the wall. The doorframe digs into his shoulder and he strains to hear Dean breath. As an angel, he could feel Dean’s lifeforce and feel the ebb and flow of his breathing without a thought. As a human, Castiel feels helpless in the face of Dean’s terror and self-imposed solitary. 

Dean is awake tonight. He lays on his stomach, his blanket pushed down to his waist, and he watches as the lit candle on his bedside table flickers in the darkness. It reminds him of clutching onto a tiny Sammy, his own arms too small to reach all the way around but his legs burning with the effort it took to get down the stairs and outside. It reminds him of hooks and knives and Alistair’s eyes as he placed his hand over Dean’s and taught him the most painful ways to manipulate flesh. It reminds him of Cas; leaving him alone, trapped and hurting. It reminds him of betrayal.

He keeps it burning, even as he pulls himself up out of bed and slips into the wheelchair that occupies the space where the second nightstand used to sit. He considers the walker, for only a moment, but he’s tired and his back hurts so badly it’s hard to breath. So he unlocks the breaks, presses his hands to the wheels, and maneuvers himself to the door. 

He finds Castiel just outside and there is only silence between them. Dean locks the breaks, places his hands in his lap, and watches as Castiel draws himself up to full height from the floor. For so long, he’d been taller than his friend. Just a couple inches, but enough for Castiel to be the one to look up into his eyes instead of the other way around. Now, as Dean tilts his head back to look up at Cas, he gives himself the time to miss the little things. 

There is a silent agreement between the two of them and Dean unlocks the breaks on his chair, letting Castiel push him back into his room. Dean pulls himself back into bed, lays on his stomach, and the silence becomes tense. Castiel stands alone, one hand on the chair and the other hanging limply at his side, yearning to reach for Dean. 

The hunter, eyes drooping with exhaustion and body heavy with the warmth that fills his room for the first time in so long, smiles at him from his bed. Castiel loves him.

“Come to bed,” he rasps, like the space between them hasn’t been uncrossable for over seven months. Like this is something they do every night. “Just for tonight.”

And Castiel does, leaning over to blow the candle out before resting his head on Dean’s pillow. _This is peace,_ he decides as he watches Dean fall asleep. _This is redemption_ , he thinks as he holds Dean close hours later, chasing the dredges of a nightmare away. _This is home_.


End file.
